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What do you do when you want to make customer service the cornerstone of your Internet-based business? Let your voice show your smile when you answer the telephone. Or in this case, answer an email.
Hank Paine strives to let that happen when customers contact him through Theconnecticutstore.com http://www.theconnecticutstore.com. A good will toward others was instilled into this merchant from day one when he was born into a family that owned and operated "Waterbury's Friendly Department Store," a place where people handed over their money to a staff that smiled back.
Now that the customer is often nothing more than the name at the end of an email or check, Paine's dedication to customer service hasn't diminished. "The customer is trusting you with their credit card number and their purchase, and you better earn it or deserve it," he advises.
He eschews the newly launched available services that are dedicated to assuaging customer concerns. Paine opts, instead, for the old-fashioned approach of quick, reliable service. "A customer in a store can see you and judge whether to trust you or not. You can't do that on the Internet." So his approach is to communicate completely and fast. And that means answering questions as well taking orders. And the service is the same whether you're ordering directly from the Web site or if you win a bid on eBay.
Having a brick and mortar enterprise as well as a successful Web site, Paine learned how to bridge the gaps. "When a customer walks in, they can walk out with a product. An Internet customer has to wait, and so we have to be as quick as possible." That means a plan for quick shipment that Paine constantly struggles to beat.
His record stands at 8 minutes and 35 seconds from the moment the order was taken to when it was handed across the post office counter.
One of the products he's continually shipping from Theconnecticutstore.com is an all time American favorite--Wiffle Ball.
The importance of customer service is always being reiterated to Paine. He recounts one story he heard from a Minnesota man who contacted Paine after a painfully slow shipment from another Internet source for the toy. "It took months for the order to arrive, and by then, some of the people he was going to give the bats and balls to had moved," Paine tells. Now the gentleman is getting married and wants to provide a bat and ball for each guest plus a few extras to be on hand for a mid-reception game. It was Paine's reputation for quick reliable service that earned him the contact.
Swift service isn't always easy, especially with something like Wiffle Balls, whose bats make it a feat of engineering to package well. "These are things that don't cost a lot to begin with, so we have to be cost-effective with shipping but we also need to be quick.
"And the way I see it, if you can get the product to the customer in three days, it's a whole lot better than a week and a half."
So what kind of problems arise in an Internet business when your primary focus is aimed at good service? Paine says it's mostly receiving incomplete addresses and lost shipments once they leave his hands. His preferred method for sending out merchandise is Priority Mail from USPS and UPS. "And we do a lot of follow up response as a result to make sure everything is okay," he explains.
Sometimes that's not easy but becomes a juggling act amid the daily routine of running a shop and restaurant and taking part in the community development projects to improve the quality of city life. "Still, we tend to the order desk from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week online."
Paine doesn't seem to get discouraged, even by the questions that aren't related to sales. "We had one family call us who wanted to know about a Waterbury manufactured button that was found on Grandma's charm bracelet after she died. What was it?"
Paine got on the phone to the manufacturer (yes, Waterbury Button is still operating and has been since the War of 1812). He learned the button was a Navy issue and this led to the discovery that Grandma had a secret beau. The family's on a hunt to find out who he was and what happened between the two.
It's stories like this that keep Paine going, and the Internet simply broadened the scope of where the stories come from. It's this attitude of genuinely liking people that translates to the Internet.
But even this process can have its drawbacks. One must be diligent in monitoring the email servers and have backup plans if they fail. And you must sometimes rely on others to keep that smiling service going. Though Paine is the initial contact via email, telephone calls are answered by one of five employees. Merchants employing Paine's practical approach must be certain that the employees are all on board with the company's goals, no matter how badly their day is progressing.
Still, it's a method that works for Theconnecticutstore.com, and though you won't see the company hitting the news because of monumental corporate gains, they'll continue to offer a steady flow of items that were Made in Connecticut to anyone who wants them. And that translates to a steady parade of pewter, jewelry, candles, enamelware and toys making their way from Paine's shop to the post office door. And who knows, one of these orders might just break Paine's 8 1/2 minute record!
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